Gray Maynard, a former UFC lightweight championship challenger, has spoken out against his former boss Dana White.
Maynard (13-7-1 MMA) fought in the Ultimate Fighting Championship from 2007 to 2018, twice winning the promotion’s lightweight belt.
‘The Bully’ left the UFC in 2019, a year after losing by TKO to Nik Lentz in his most recent bout.
In recent weeks, the question of fighter pay, or the lack thereof, has been a hot topic. As a result, Gray Maynard recently expressed his thoughts on the subject, accusing Dana White of “pimping” the majority of his athletes.
“No. He made money off my blood/sweat and paid me shit. Still making money from a lot of my fights being replayed. I was on a pedestal because I worked my ass since I was 3 years when I started wrestling. He just pimps us out and takes most of the money.” – Maynard wrote on Twitter.
Gray Maynard revealed he was only guaranteed $26k for his first title fight at UFC 125
Maynard continued- “Look man. I don’t expect you to understand my experiences working with the UFC. But I can assure you after my 1st title fight when I was only guaranteed $26k. Reality hit pretty hard and I started finding other ways to make money.”
While it’s worth noting that Gray’s first title battle with Edgar took place in 2011, $26k is still a ridiculous amount to defend.
Gray Maynard’s comments have not been formally addressed by Dana White, but the consistent theme of fighters speaking out against the organisation must be concerning to the UFC President.
What are your thoughts on how UFC president Dana White handled this? How do you think it should have been done?
